Coming Out With My Secret Life As a Paranormal Researcher

Presenting at the 2017 Afterlife Symposium in Phoenix.

A friend recently stated that trying to “come out” to her family about her interest in spiritual, “woo woo” topics was more challenging than when she had to come out as being gay. Indeed, the realm of supernatural, metaphysical topics is extremely polarizing. Which is why even on my homepage that I’ve ran for almost 8 years, I make no mention of my primary interest and side-career.

That needs to end soon.

The reality is, in 2015 I released my feature length book, Understanding Life After Death. Although self-published, it led to a community on Facebook of (currently) 4,500 members, countless radio and podcast spots, and the opportunity to speak to about 400 attendees of the Afterlife Symposium in Phoenix, AZ. Much more is on the way, including a weekly radio show and new books.

Exploring life after death, a subject that ultimately affects us all, is a particularly important niche in the “supernatural” authorship domain. I decided to tackle the subject from an angle that best reflects my personal opinions, journey and experiences. Sometimes that angle is irreverent and controversial as I attack what I feel are misconceptions and absurdities from within the field. However, I’m told that such a style is what draws people toward what I do.

Despite the pride I take in this area, it’s been necessary in my (probably wrong) viewpoint to keep it tucked away and hidden from “CyrusKirkpatrick.com” – a site I built to showcase my travels in North Korea, adventures abroad, and books related to travel and lifestyle.

I could simply not figure a way to mix life after death and travel. Ongoing fears still persist that someone will wander into my work after reading an unrelated book or article of mine, and leave a dreaded negative comment that I was, in fact, a whack-job all along. Because I haven’t quite reached the nirvana-state of “what other people say or think doesn’t affect me.” It still happens.

Perhaps, this issue has wider implications for how I partition my life into different areas; and how, ultimately, this is not the best strategy, especially for someone who aims at authenticity in my life and actions.

What I would say, especially to those unfamiliar with this topic and learning about it via my blog, is to consider open-mindedly not whether the subject is true, but how I present the information. In all I do, I try to encourage critical thinking first and foremost. I detest blindly accepting ideas. So whether these subjects paint me as a crazy person or not, at least take note that I’ll approach what you view as “crazy” via only the most rational methods possible.

The “para” worlds of out-of-body experiences, near-death experiences, mediumship and after-death communication are complex and multifaceted. The odds are, whatever you know about these topics from a pop cultural level, are wrong. The fact they can be explored on a deep, human and perhaps primal level is, by itself, a reason enough to move forward to a fuller understanding.

In the end, however, I still lean entirely toward the “woo woo” side. I do not reject these experiences as illusionary or untrue. In fact, these many and varied subjects point toward extremely surprising possibilities related to how the universe and consciousness operates. These possibilities lay outside of what mainstream opinions dictate as possible or valid. Although, with growing strength, some subjects are bursting into mainstream discourse.

So, this little site of mine is going to gradually evolve to more fully represent who I am as a writer and thinker, not to mention my life itself. It makes no sense for a domain that has my full name attached to it to only present a myopic angle, with the rest hidden in the name of fear of rejection.

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Comments

Yes, I could not agree more with de-compartmentalising, I am in the process of it myself, not easy but hey who really cares what people say about us. At least while they are talking about us some other soul is left alone. Good post Cyrus.

Way to Go Cyrus.
This subject and your knowledge of it,
is what your meant to write.
I’ve been in your fb group for a couple yrs
I $tudy the paranormal, after I started having experiences 5 yrs ago. I do geological testing, botanical history, air quality, many and all aspects of this extremely haunted area. Your insight is something that I have as a reference. Your confidence is inspiring as well.
I look forward to More!!